Tear strip can opener



March 13, 1956 A, REED 2,738,098

TEAR STRIP CAN OPENER Filed July 21, 1953 Fig.1

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:BYWQW l iITTQ RN EY United States PatetitO TEAR STRIP CAN OPENER Lester A. Reed, Danville, Ind. Application July 21, 1953, Serial No. 369,289

1 Claim. (Cl. 220-52) This invention relates to a portable, hand operated can opener for use on cans which are normally sealed to be opened by removing a tear strip from around the enclosing wall. The invention embodies not only means for removing the tear strip from the can in a very simple and easy manner, but it also involves the use of means for removing the wound up strip from the spindle about which the tear strip is wound in the severing operation.

The invention is incorporated in a very simple device of light weight which may be easily operated by hand and which is portable and of such configuration that it may be stored in the ordinary kitchen cabinet drawer or the like in households so as to be immediately available for use.

Normally the cans having tear strips are put out to the trade when filled, with a small key fixed to the can to be used in opening a can by inserting a tongue of the strip through a slot provided in the key. These keys of course have no means for guiding them in an up and down direction, nor do they have any means for maintaining the axis of the key at a fixed distance in relation to the wall of the can from which the strip is being removed. The result has been that the strip is extremely difiicult to be maintained in a complete helix around the key with the result that the strip will travel up and down along the key and usually tear off without permitting it to be completely unwound from the can.

By use of my invention, there is no permanent attachment of any part of the opener to the can, and neither is there any stand required for holding thecan. The device involving the invention is practically self-locating and once the tear strip is started to tear from the can, all that needs to be done is to revolve a crank around its axis and hold the device to permit the can itself to revolve in relation to the opener.

These and many other objects and advantages of the invention including the relatively low cost of production and the unique assembly of the various elements as set forth in the appended claim, will become apparent to those versed in the art in the following description of one particular form of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation and partial section of a device embodying the invention and applied to a can;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view; and

Fig. 3 is a detail in vertical section on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale.

A body generally designated by the numeral is formed to have in the present instance a U-shaped body wherein there is an upper web 11 with the two down turn legs 12 and 13. The major portion of this member 10 serves as a handle.

From one end of the body 10 there is formed a head generally designated by the numeral 14. This head 14 is formed generally by punching out a length of the web 11 and bending it upwardly and forwardly through the bend 15 and thence by an upperbearing plate 16 substantially horizontally disposed to the web 11, andthen 2,738,098 Patented Mar. 13, 1956 ICe this portion is carried downwardly by a front vertical length 17, and finally turned rearwardly by an end 18 in parallel, spaced relation below the plate 16. The members 16 and 18 are provided with vertically aligned holes therethrough to receive the shaft 19 revolubly therethrough to extend downwardly a distance below the web 11 and down below the under edges of the legs 12 and 13, Fig. l.

The legs 12 and 13 are carried on out beyond the bend 15, and are twisted around to come in to the same plane as that of the web 11. These twisted ends are designated by the numerals 20 and 21, and their front ends are bent downwardly at right angles to form the lips 22 and 23 respectively. The member 18 is spaced above the level of these two members 20 and 21.

The shaft 19 to which reference was made above, carries a crank arm 24 which terminates in any suitable upright member such as a knob 25 to serve as a means for rotating the shaft 19 on its own axis. The shaft 19 is provided with some sort of an abutment 26 to limit the downward travel, this abutment 26 bearing against the top side of plate 16. Preferably the shaft 19 also carries an abutment 27 below the member 18 to limit its upper travel so that the shaft 19 for all intents and pur poses is restrained against axial travel in relation to the members 16 and 18, and yet is free to rotate therethrough. The lower end of the shaft 19 is preferably tapered in diameter from the primary diameter to a lesser diameter at the lower end 28, and. this tapered diameter is bifur cated to provide a slot 29 across the shaft.

Between the legs 12 and 13, there is a stripper lever 30 rockably carried by means of a cross pin 31. The rear portion of this lever 30 terminates in a downturned handle 32 normally spaced below the member 10, while the opposite end portion 33 on the other side of the pivot pin 31 is carried around and upwardly to have an end straddling the shaft 19 below the member 18. The end 30 is herein shown as having the two extending side members 34 and 35 receiving the shaft 19 therebetween, Fig. 2. These members 34 and 35 are normally urged upwardly until member 33 strikes the web 11 at some such point as indicated by the numeral 36, Fig. l, or the side pieces 34 and 35 may strike the member 18, which either abutment may be desired. The member 30 is normally, yieldingly maintained in the position as indicated in Fig. l by means of a torsion spring 37 which surrounds the pin 31 and bears by one leg 38 against the member 30 and by another leg 39 against the web 11, Fig. 3.

Operation Referring to Fig. l, a can generally designated by the numeral 40 has a tear strip 41 therearound with the usual tongue 42 extending therefrom. These cans 40 have universally an upwardly extending lip or flange 43 around their marginal ends.

The device is brought up to the can 40 to have the lips 22 and 23 drop over on the inside of the flange 43, and the shaft 19 drop drown alongside of the can 40 and the shaft 19 is turned to have the tongue end 42 extend through the slot 29. The length of the shaft 19 below the member 18 is made to be such that the slot 29 may be carried upwardly from the lower end 28 a suflicient distance to have the tongue 42 extend freely therein without contacting the upper end 44 of the slot 29. Also the axis of shaft 19 is positioned in relation to the down turned lips 22 and 23 sufiiciently close to the side wall of the can 40 to have the tongue 42 extend through the slot 29 a distance which will permit that tongue to be sutliciently held against slipping out of the slot 29 when the shaft 19 is rotated to startwinding the strip 41 around the shaft.

With the tongue 42 thus engaged through the slot 29, the knob 25 is then revolved to turn the shaft 19 and start the strip 41 winding around the shaft 19. The member 10 may be held stationary, and the can 40 itself will start revolving. As the strip 41 is wound around the shaft 19, the member 10 may automatically incline itself upwardly to accommodate the radial thickness of the combined layers of the strip 41 wrapped around the shaft 19, and thus provide a firm gripping of those various layers one against the other as the strip 41 is wound. When the entire length of the strip 41 has been wound around the shaft 19, in complete severance from the can 40, the member 10 is lifted upwardly to disengage the lips 22 and 23 from the flange 43, and then the lever end 32 is pulled upwardly toward the web 11, which causes the members 34 and 35 to strip the wound tear strip 41 from the end of the shaft 19 and completely remove it therefrom so that the operators hands or fingers do not have to come into contact with the strip 41 and subject the fingers to possible injury on the sharp and roughened edges of the strip 41. Thus the device is then completely cleared of the strip 41 and it is ready for subsequent use.

In order to limit travel of the lever 30, lugs 45 and 46 may be inturned from the legs 12 and 13 to be in the path of the end 32, however these lugs must be so spaced in relation to the travel of the member 32, that the under sides of the members 34 and 35 will travel to substantially the lower end 28, of the shaft 19 in any event.

Therefore while I have described my invention in the one particular form, it is obvious that mechanical changes may be incorporated in the design without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations which may be imposed by the following claim.

I claim:

A device for removing a tear strip from a can having an upwardly extending marginal flange, comprising a handle portion; a head carried by the handle portion; a shaft revolubly carried by said head at approximately right angles to the handle portion; means for revolving the shaft; said shaft having a bifurcated end extending below said head; a pair of horizontally spaced apart, down-turned lips fixedly carried by said handle portion and positioned below said head and beyond said shaft; and a lever lying along and carried by said handle portion and having an outer end straddling said shaft bifurcated end, shiftable therealong to traverse the shaft end portion by rocking of the lever; said lever outer end being normally spaced above said lips to bear against said head above said can flange; said lip positioning placing the lips to engage over, inside and against said flange; said handle and head being initially free to travel toward said can a horizontal distance until stopped by said shaft end contacting the outer side of the can, the distance forceably increasing as the turns of said strip increase upon being wound about the shaft, said distance being limited by contact of said lips with said flange; said handle being normally tended to be rocked upwardly by its outer end upon lip to flange contact by increasing strip turns being placed around the shaft, downward pressure upon said handle outer end tending to hold said turns compactly together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,144,703 Goodsell June 29, 1915 1,985,290 Hildebrandt Dec. 25, 1934 2,140,151 Dazey Dec. 13, 1938 2,286,039 Reynolds June 9, 1942 2,649,990 Lyle Aug. 25, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 54,292 Denmark Feb. 7, 1938 

